Radium filter emanator



y 1932- J. c, WICHMANN 1,859,904

RADIUM FILTER EMANATOR Filed July 1926 Patented May 24-, 1932 r v 1 859 904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application filed July 21, 1926. Serial Noi 123,890.

a My invention is a radium filter emanator the material with the radioactive materials in which water for drinking purposes or the and in the method of charging the water with i like is charged with radium emanation. the radium emanation. i i f My present invention is designed to highly The structure of thefilter comprises pref- V 5. charge the water such as may be required for erably a jarwhich may be mounted in a water 65 professional purposes, in which the water receiving receptacle and depending from the having a certain specified number of-mach jar I have a tube preferably made of hard units, is to be taken according to a physicians rubber with longitudinal openings. This prescription. tube has a series of cups or the like placed The filter emanator may also be utilized thereon formed of porous filtering material 60.

as a general device for charging water with in which the crushed ores having radioactive radium emanation for household use or the principles are placed. The lower end of the. like, in which it may not be necessary to tube is preferably closed by'a detachable concharge the water to as high an extent as for tainer which receives the sediment or the like 5 professional use. from the water being filtered. This water 65 '7 When filters are formed using radioactive is preferably utilized from a bottle or the materials such as crushedor pulverized carlike inverted over the jar and the charged notite, pitch blende or other minerals con-' W ter receptacle.

taining radioactive substances, and the clay y lllventlon Will b more readily underor the like is burnt to form a porous filter stood with reference to the accompanying 70 a the active principles are-to a considerable exrawing; in which the numeral 1 indicates tent lost. Uranium oxide is one of the active a receptacle f r h g Water. Thi may. principles emitting radium emanation which be made of glass or other suitable material is found in a number of the various natural and has a faucet 2 for, drawing off the water.

i ores and when this is heated with clay or the A gasket 8 formed of rubber or the equiva- 775 like to make a porous filter, a considerable lent is placed on the top of the receptacle 1 extent is lost. I and a 4 is supported on the gasket. A

Among the various objects of my invention second, preferably soft rubber ring 5 rests on is to impregnate a porous filtering medium the rim of the jar and forms a direct support with radioactive material without burning for the bottle 6 containing water to be filtered same in the filter and to this end I'utilize and charged. As is seen from the illustracrushed ores containing radioactive material tion, the neck of the bottle dips to a considplaced in suitable vessels so that the water erable extent into the jar 4. V i when passing over and through suchvessels Thisj ar may be made ofafiltering medium I will wash the fine powder or pulverizedmah as filt l or f a, n filt i m 5 term} lnto j PQ f the 3. l a terial such as porcelain or burnt clay and H Preventmg lts belllg 10st and be n d would preferablyhave radioactive materials.

Ofi' the Water 1 thls manner the filtermg incorporated therein as hereunder set'forth; medlum may re.ceWe.and f l mb The further structural details of my filter Part of the radloactwe. mammal i mcomprise a tube 7 preferably formed of hard terfermg Wlth- Its filtenqg properties rubber which is fitted n 111 0 enin 8 in the Another ob ect of my invention is forming b f 4 d 6 g d part of the filter by a burnt porous vessel or i g 3 13 2 2 11S?) g zgl fi y iigz medlum such as burnt clay, thls being con of hard rubber. lower end ofjthe tube structed with radioactive material incorpoy rated therein and with radium salts in accordhas a nut 10 Preferably Screw threaded ance with a formula I have found satisfac- 0n and a Container 1 is also w d tory. wise secured on the bottom of the tubes My invention comprises both the structure These parts if not made of hard rubber, will 5 of the filter and the method of: impregnating preferably be made of some material which a l 1 I Per cent Carnotite ore crushed toabout 20 l on me sh 20 tofi di s .'ze-ii+vf- Pumicestone crushed to about 20* a l I mesh' 8 to5 Insoluble radium salts i 0.1 to 0.3 Togetherwit-h sodium silicatewn .01

Soda ash-1c" .05

will not affect the water. The tube has a series of longitudinal slots or openings 12.

A series of cups 13 are stacked on the tube. Each of these cups has a base 14, an outer rim 15 and an inner rim 16, there being a central opening 17 through each of the cups through which; the tube 7 extends. The lowermost cup 1 is. preferably made with a thickened inner rim as indicated by the numeral 18 to make itstronger. The outer and the inner rims have anintenfitting engage ment with the cup immediately abovethe base as indicated by the numerals 19 and 20. The lowermost cup has a socket 21...resting on the nut 10, the base also preferably resting on'thereceptacle 11 and thereby supporting thewhole'staekofcups.

The jar 4 is preferably madeota filtering material and I of a composition having substantially the following I ingredients 'represented by bulk: J

these latteringredients acting as a flux and: abi'nder. A suitableclay isutilizedto make up the balance, such clay being of achar'acter that it will burn properly in making a jar.

radiilm salts used shoul'd be the insolu blesalts of which I may use all the salts which are of areasonable price or any one m r -iiol f fam i I Thej ar offiltering medium may be molded suitable" manner to pottery: makersand burn-U or fired in the ordinary 1 manner; The pumice stoneacts asa filtering material as well as having the slight radioae tiife materials Thesawdust chars andgives a more or les'sporousstructure: I

Itis to be understood that I may use other minerals or ores" having radioactive principles either in their natural state or concentrated andcrushi'ad being incorpoiated in the filter. i a I In the" drawing; the various dots indicated 'bythe-numeral 22in the jar-4' are intended to in'dicate'the 'crushed ore'and the insoluble radiumsalts. [Each of thecupsyhas a layer of 1 crushed ore: having radioactive principles such asfcarnotitepitch blende or any other orewwhich maybe sufficiently high grade.

These maybe utilized as crushed from the naturalimineralor concentrated. Such lay ers are indicated by the numeral23 and may if desired completely fill the caps or preferably be spaced below the bottom of the cup immediately above,

;It; is most desirable in ibuildingup the stack of cu'psthat there be a Water-tight joint between the various cups and also between the uppermost cup and the jar 4, in order that the water instead of seeping through the joints, will be forced through the porous parts of the caps.

The manner of using my radium filter emanator and itsmanner of functioning is substantially as follows:. a

Presuming the receptacle 1, the jar 4 and the cups are empty of water and a bottle is inserted as-ill'ustrate'd;the water will pour out of the bottle into the ar and flow down through the slots or openings in the tube and a the jar 1 by filtering :or passing through the body ofthe'jar or it may pass through the cups into the tube and hence into thejar; Thus as water is removed from the jar the: air. bubbles will entersame; t The manner of impregnating the filter cups with the: radioactive-material is substantiallyasfollows:

a A above'mentionedthearadium ores and radium: salts arecrushed and some of the crushed material will naturally be-very fine and of a pulverized naturew Should there be insufficient of the finelypulverized material, some of itmay be specially ground orpu'lverizedto pass a fine mesh. This material isto a certain extent carried; by the Water into the porous cups or filtering medium, in the action of the water passing through" and-the continued actionandruse ofthejar tends to incorporate"aconsiderab1e amount of the radioactive 'minerals'or salts in the body of the filtering cups or other filteringmediums.

Itlwill be a pa'rentt-h'at the water passing;

downwardly: rom anupper cup to a lower cup whenrwateriis drawn out ofthereceptacle 1,wi1l cause the radioactive materials to'be'incorporated in the baseof= the cups and'th'e horizontalflow of the'cwater will cause thismaterial to be incorporated in the outer rim or the vertical wall of thecup.

It is obvious bythe construction of my radium filter emanator thatin thejar 4 a largej surface is exposed tothe Water; giving out radio emanati'ons. Howeveryin" the filter cups there is a much larger surface of the:

radioactive material exposed, both in bulk rat andby being incorporated in the porousfilter: material to the water, thus giving a high charge as represented in mach units in the" Water, in a comparatively shorttime. V For professionaluse of physicians or m hospitals it may be desirable to utilize highly concentrated radioactive ores or lnsoluble radium salts in fttlll large proportions so that i the water will become rapidly charged with the radium emanation no matter if a considerable amount is being drawn off more or less continuously.

In order to clean my filter emanator it is only necessary to remove the jar 4 with the stacks of cups from the receptacle 1 to detach the container 11 which may have the sediment washed out and to clean the inside of the tube 7 by any suitable utensil. This tube it will be noted is of a material to which the slimes and sediment in the water do not tend to cling so that these will naturally descend into the receptacle 11, thereby preventing radioactive principles.

Moreover, although I have described the radioactive material as being placed loose in cups in order to impregnate the porous Inaterial with the pulverized radioactive material, it is to be understood that I may incorporate these fine powders in other filtering mediums in substantially the same way, by washing same into the filtering medium. This may be done before the device is constructed, or may take place in actual use.

It will be obvious that the various features of my invention may be considerably moditied to make difi'erent types of filters and emanation units and for various different purposes. Such changes however, would be within the spirit of my invention as set forth in the description, drawing, and claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a radium filter emanator, an annular cup-lilre porous vessel having a substantially horizontal base, a substantially vertical outer rim and vertical inner rim with a central opening therethrough at the inner rim, crushed radioactive material held in said vessel, and means to pass water through the inner rim into contact with the material and through the vessel. I V

2. In a radium filter emanator, a plurality of superposed cup-like vessels of porous filter material with the open side up, crushed radioactive material held in said vessels, and means to pass water in contact with the material and through the porous walls of said vessels.

3. In a radium filter emanator, avertical tube having openings in the side, a pluralityof cup-like porousivessels stackedon said tube, the tube passing through a central opening in each of thevessels, crushed radioactive material held in said vessels,-meansto pass water into the tube into contact with the radioactivematerial and through the porous vessels.

4:. In a radium filter emanator, a substantially vertical tube having openingsin its wall, a container for sediment at the lower end of the tube, a plurality of cup-like vessels of porous material forming a stack'on said tube, crushed radioactive material in said vessels and means to pass water into the tube, into contact with the radioactive material and through the vessels.

5. In a radium filter emanator, a ar having an opening in the bottom, a tube extending downwardly therefrom having openings in its wall, a plurality of cup-like vessels forming a stack on said tube, crushed radioactive material in said vessels, and means to pass water into the jar and into the tube in contact with the radioactive material an through the vessels. 6. In a radium filter emanator as claimed in claim 5, a container secured to the lower end of the tube to receive sediment.

7 In a radium filter emanator as claimed in claim 5, the jar being porous and with radioactive material contained in the walls of said 8.. A radium filter emanator comprising in combination a receptacle for charged water, an outlet therefrom, ajar supported in said receptacle having an opening in 1ts base, a

tube having openings in its wall depending from the jar, a stack of cup-like vessels having central openings surrounding the tube,-

crushed radioactive material in said vessels,

and means to flow water into said jar, into the tube in contact with the radioactive material and through the vessels into the receptacle.

9. A. radium filter emanator as claimed in 11. In a radium filter emanator a plurality of annular cup like porous vessels, stacked one on top of the other with the open side up, each vessel having inner and outer walls and a base, radioactive material supported. on the base of each vessel and extending partlyupwardly on the sides of same, means JOHN G. WICHMANN. 

